Solitary eating, an inferior alternative? An examination of time-use data in South Korea

This study has two objectives: (1) to investigate the changes in the frequency, duration, and timing of solitary, family, and social meals in South Korea, and (2) to examine the effects of these meals on subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction). As for the latter objective, it was hypothesized that solitary and desynchronized meals would be associated with lower life satisfaction, whereas family, social, and synchronized meals would be linked with higher life satisfaction. Analyses of the time-use data between 1999 and 2014 revealed that family meals were being rapidly replaced by both solitary and social meals. Contrary to the thesis of temporal destructuration, however, the collective rhythms of eating became more pronounced in South Korea. Regarding the effects of the meals, eating together had positive effects on life satisfaction, whereas eating alone did not. The effects of solitary meals varied across individuals, based upon the level of voluntariness and scheduling. Moreover, eating together, especially with family members, protected individuals from the adverse impacts of a desynchronized eating rhythm.